Treating process for all kinds of fibers



Patented Apr. 5, 1938 UNITED STATES TREATING PROCESS FOR ,ALL KINDS OF FIBERS Heriberto Uribe Montes de Oca, Mexico, D. F., Mexico N Drawing.

Application October 15, 1934, Se-

rial No. 748,428. In Mexico October 17, 1933 1 Claim.

This invention refers to a process, absolutely new and original, to treat all kinds of fibers, vegetable, animal or artificial, and to make their handling easy, increasing their qualities and yield 5 in the process to which they are subjected either in the manufacture of fabrics and cloth or in any other manufacture to which the fibers are submitted.

This process, as is further stated, is absolutely different from the ones known to this date, being that these known in their largest majority consist in trying to soften the fibers that are to be submitted to a manufacturing process by moistening them with oils and water; while in the process of thisv invention, all kinds of fibers are soaked or saturated, by any suitable means-with two watery solutions or with two colloidal (sol) or gelatinous (gel) suspensions, so that the treatment of the fibers is obtained by means of the chemical reaction that takes place inside the fibrous spaces, molecular spaces, and on their outside surface.

Fibers, in general, treated according to this process, do not lose any of their macroscopic properties but increase their malleability, smoothness, strength, resiliency and appearance, qualities not obtained through the process now known I and used.

The industrial uses this invention may have, are truly numberless, as it can be used to treat all kinds of fibers used in the manufacture of fabrics, cloth, cordage, cables, ropes, lines, twines, threads,. etc.

One object of this invention is to unite into one the physical and chemical integrity of each fiber, being that in the process of fabric and cloth manufacturing at present they do not contain enough -moisture, nor the necessary integrity and cohesion so that when passing through the'diiler- 40 ent machines there is a high percentage of waste of the small fibers that compose the larger ones which is avoided, as has been stated, when treated with this process, as they acquire enough cohesion and the necessary moisture so that the losses in powder and little bits of fiber are reduced to a minimum.

Another object of this invention is to soften the fibers, which greatly enhances their easy handling in the process of fabric and cloth manulacturing in its twining and, in general, their passing through the different machines, saving, in that way, motive power and wear of the same.

Another object is to increase the strength of the fibers or manufactured products, owing to the u fact that the cohesion of the fibers increase, as

has been stated,,atthe same time that their resilient power greatly increases.

Another object is to bleach the fibers or manufactured products-giving them, accordingly, a better appearance. 5

The characteristic features of the process in this invention are the following:

First.All kinds of fibers, vegetable, animal or artificial, are soaked or saturated, hot or cold, by any suitable means, in a watery solution or 10 with a sol or a gel, this solution sol or gel of water plus the sodium or potasium salts of any fatty acid, of high molecular weight, the amount of these last varying in percenta in the solution (sol or gel), according to the requirements 15 of the kind of fibers to be treated and with the manufacturing process to which they are to be submitted. This solution willbe called No. One.

This solution (sci or gel) can also be prepared by means of water and any of the soaps soluble 20 in the same, this solution to be called No. One bis.

Second.0nce the fibers to be manufactured have absorbed or adsorbed the solution ($01 or gel) before mentioned, they are bathed or saturated again, either dry or wet yet by the first 25 treatment, with One or One bis, with a new solution (sol or gel) which consists in water and one or several salts of the metals, calling this solution No. Two.

This solution (sol or gel) can be prepared also 30 by means of water and hydrochloric, nitric, or sulphuric acids and in general with any other organic or inorganic acid, this solution to be called No. Two bis.

The concentration of the solutions (sols or 35 gels) One and One bis, can vary as has been said,

.according to the degree required by the kind of fibers that are to be treated and in accordance with the manufacturing process to which they are going to be submitted. The concentration of the 40 solutions (sols or gels) Two or Two bis, depends upon the concentration degrees of Oneand One bis, that was used in the first step of the process.

As a result from the first and second stages of the process, in working in the second stage there 45 is produced inside and on the surface of the fibers to be treated, a chemical reaction from which results a precipitate of a substance or compound insoluble in water, salt water or acids in general; this precipitate, by its nature, maintains 50 the moisture usual in the fiber or fibers and increases its' softness, strength, malleability, resiliency, etc.

If the treatment is combined in the first stage One and in the second stage Two, the precipitate produced by the chemical reaction produced consists in the salt of any fatty acid used in the prep aration One, only instead of being sodium or potassium it is from the metal of the salt used in preparation of No. Two.

Examples Supposing that in preparation One, stearate of sodium (CH3-(CH2)1s-COONa-) plus water was used, and that in preparation Two copper sulphate (CuSO4) was used, the precipitate of the chemical reaction would be in this case stearate of copper ((CHa-(CHz) 1e-COO)2C11), insoluble in water; or if in the preparation Two zinc sulphate (ZnZOO was used the precipitate of the chemical reaction produced will be in this last case stearate of zinc Example Supposing that in preparation One, stearate of sodium (OKs-(CH2) 1s-COONa) plus water used and in the preparation Two bis hydrochloric acid (HCl) plus water was used, the precipitate of the chemical reaction would be in this case stearic acid (CH3(CH2)1a-COOH) absolutely insoluble in water and in all known' acids; or if in the preparation of One potassium stearate (CH3-(CH2)1eCOOK) was used and in the Example Supposing that the soap used in the preparation of One bis consists of sodium stearate (CH3-(CH2)16COON8.) the sodium salt f acid (CnHaa-COOH) and the sodium salt of palmitic acid (CH3-(CH2)14COOH), etc. and in the preparation of Two bis nitric acid (HNOa) was used, the precipitate of the chemical reaction will be in this case stearic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, etc. all of them insoluble and that can not be attacked by potable or salt water or any known acid.

Having described the invention, whatl consider as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I claim:

A process for treating fibers prior to their use in a manufacturing process, consisting in subjecting them to a bath containing a solution of water and stearate of sodium, and then subjecting them to a furtherbath containing water and hydrochloric acid, whereby the fibers are softened, strengthened and humidified to permit them to be more easily worked during any subsequent manufacturing processes.

HERIBERTO URIBE MONTES on OCA. 

